Cotton cultivator and chopper.



n. DOWDELL. COTTON GULTIVATOR AND CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 1913.

1,075,553; Patented 0ct.14,1913;

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WITNESSES INVENTOR Allorney DOCK B. DOWDELL, OF REDBI RD, OKLAHOMA.

COTTON CULTIVATGR AND CHOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented (Pct. 1st, 1213.

Application filed March 25, 1913. Serial No. 756,745.

To all "whom t may concern Be it known that 1, Door; 13. DOWDELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at ltedbird, in the county of Wagoner and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton Cultivators and Choppers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to combination cultivator-s, and especially to a cotton chopper and scraper of special construction, embodying therein special novel features specially intended for cotton cultivation.

The object of the invention is to provide in one and the same machine a cotton chopper, a plow cleaner and a scraper, and to furnish peculiar means for adjustably mounting and connecting the various parts in operative position.

A further object of the invention is to provide special knife holders arranged for the operation of horizontal cutters or knives, and to furnish means for cushioning the knives laterally.

A still further object of the invention is to provide stocks in which the knife holders are adjustable laterally, and by which the plow-beams are adjustably clamped.

Various other objects, advantages and improved results are attainable in the practical application of the invention, as will hereinafter be fully explained.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this application :FigLu'e 1 is a top view partly broken away. Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly broken away. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on the plane indicated by the dotted line a-a Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail side view showing position of the handles wit-h one of the casings removed. Fig. 5 is an inverted perspective view of a knife and its holder. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the casings.

The same reference characters denote the same parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In carrying out my invention I have clevised means for furnishing in one and the same machine either a single or a double plow or cultivator, adapted to be operated by hand and with a single or double draft applied thereto, and for these purposes a pair of plow-beams 1 have their front end attached to a clevis-head comprising a pair of plates 2, having bolt holes 3 for bolts 4 by means of which the said front ends are adjustably clamped to and between the said plates. The front end of a pair of runners 5 is adjustably attached to the clevis-head by means of bolts 6, and holes 7. The rear end of the beams 1 is adjustably clamped by stocks hereinafter more fully described, and the beams have suitable plows S secured thereto. T he rear end of the runners is secured to the stocks, and said runners are bowed lengthwise so as to converge from the stocks to the clevis-head, and the runners have a lateral tread flange 9. Each stock carries a knife holder, and inasmuch as the stocks are of the same construction, and the holders being the same, and the knives or cutters the same, only one of each of said parts will be herein described in detail. Each stock comprises a pair of parallel plates 10, having holes 11, for bolts 12 which clamp the plates together with the plow beam therebetween and between certain of the bolts 12, so that the beams and the stocks may be given relative adjustment as desired or as occasion may demand. The stock-plates 10 have an opening 13 through which is inserted a casing 14 having a removable end 15, and a hole in the other end through which the stem 16 of a knife-holder 17 works, the blade or knife 18 is secured to the holder by bolts 19, and the knife is cushioned and forced through a slot 20 in the end 15, by means of a spiral spring 2 carried by the stem 16 and abut-ting one end against the end 15 of the casing and the other end against a shoulder 21, of the holder. The inner end of the holder is forced against the slotted end of the casing under pressure of the spring. As clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the casings 1a are adjustably secured in the stocks by means of set bolts 22, so that the adjacent ends of the cutters or blades over-lap, and such over-lapping or fixing of the blades relative to each other is accomplished by longitudinal adjustment of the casing. The handles 23 have a slot-ted end loosely fitting the outer end of the stems 16. The upper portion of the handles are pivotally mounted on a cross-bar 23 so as to permit the handles to work on the bar for retracting the stems 16. Either one or both of the casings may be removed from the stocks, in which event the slotted end of the handles is secured to the stocks by means of the bolts 24 which extend through the outer plates of the stocks for securing braces 25,

said braces being also secured at 26 to braces 27, which are attached to the plow beams by means of clamps 28.

It will be seen that the rear end of the beams may be adjusted in the stocks to raise and lower the stocks according to the character of cultivator work to be done, that the stocks may be adjusted to slide or drag upon the ground under certain conditions, that the cutting plane of the knives may be varied by vertical adjustment of the stocks, and that the knives may be retracted in operation by pressing the handles toward each other so that the slotted end of the handles will pull the stems l6 outwardly.

It is obvious that such adjustment of the parts may be made as to permit the machine to be operated in rows of various growth or height, by reason of the adjustable parts all being detachably and adjustably con nected, and for this reason the machine may be expeditiously assembled and disassembled as desired.

I do not wish to confine myself in the practical application of the machine as it is capable of operation in connection with various cultivations, nor do I wish to be understood as confining myself to any particular size or material in the manufacture of the machine, but reserve the right to make such changes therein as may come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a machine of the character described the combination with a pair of beams, and a clevis-head in which one end of the beams is adjusted laterally, or" a pair of stocks in which the other end of the beams is adjusted vertically, a runner attached to each stock and having a lateral adjustment in the said head, and means for securing the said parts in such adjustments.

2. In a machine of the character described the combination with a pair of beams, and a clevis-head in which one end of the beams is adjusted laterally, of a pair of stocks in which the other end of the beams is adjusted vertically, a pair of horizontal cutters adjustably secured lengthwise in the stocks, and means for adjusting the cutters.

3. The combination with the beam stocks, of a air of over-lapping cutters, casings extending through the stocks for holding the cutters, means for adjusting the casings lengthwise so as to vary the relative position of the cutters, and means for operating the cutters.

4. The combination with cultivator beams, and cultivator handles pivotally mounted thereon, of a clamping stock for each beam and adjustable vertically thereon, a pair of longitudinal cutters, a casing adjustable longitudinally in each stock, and cutterholders cushioned in the casings and hav ing a stem projecting through one end of the casings and through said handles, so that the cutters may be retracted by operating the handles.

5. The combination with the plow beams, and handles pivotally mounted thereon, of a clamping stock adjustable vertically on each beam and comprising a pair of par allel plates having an opening therethrough, removable casings fitting the openings, a holder within each casing and having a stem projecting through one end of the easings and through the handles for retracting the holders, a cutter secured to each holder and projecting through the other end of the casings, and springs contained within the casings for ejecting the cutters.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

DOCK B. DOWDELL.

Witnesses:

T. W. WALKER, H. L. JOHNSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by azldressing' the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

